


Surrogate

by SpiderLilly1339



Category: Bloodborne (Video Game)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26754043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderLilly1339/pseuds/SpiderLilly1339
Summary: Every Great One loses their child and yearns for a surrogate. In which the hunter gives Arianna's child to Ebrietas.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	Surrogate

Arianna's crying echoed in the aqueduct. Every now and then, it would branch off into fits of hysterical giggling before circling back around to mindless sobbing. Before her, wiggling and squirming in the water, lay her child. Then again, 'child' was a loose term for it. Just the barest traces of humanity could be seen within its form, and even then Ophelia wasn't sure if she was just imagining them. The little babe chirped up at its mother, swishing its tail back and forth. Arianna's answer was to moan and bury her head in her hands. Ophelia's heart clenched. This wasn't right. Hell, it wasn't even fair. This had been her fault. She'd killed Rom and caused the Blood Moon to descend, ushering forth this poor woman's curse. 

_It should have been me,_ the hunter thought, looking at the broken woman and her nightmare child. _It should have been me._

"Arianna?" She stepped toward the woman. her head shot up. Glazed, red-rimmed eyes regarded the hunter before her. Her lips stretched into a wide, sour grin. With a trembling finger, she pointed to the child.

"I made that. That's my baby." She giggled, waving her finger in circles. "My baby, my baby, my little, little baby." 

Upon seeing its mother point at it, the child splashed towards its mother. Arianna screamed and scrambled backwards. The child stopped, gurgling and purring. It didn't understand. It didn't understand that it was the cause of its mother's malady. It didn't understand that its existence heralded the birth of a new cycle, more bloody than the last. It was just a child, and it didn't understand why its mother was rejecting it. Ophelia tightened her grip in her axe. Should she kill it? It wouldn't restore Arianna's insanity, but it might save Yharnam from yet another endless night of terror. Then again...

She regarded the poor, pitiful thing. It wasn't hostile like the ones in the Upper Cathedral Ward. It almost seemed innocent in the way it splashed about, like it was trying to play in the water. Stowing her gun, Ophelia reached into her pocket and brought out pebble. She tossed it over towards the child. It plunked right down in front of it. The child dropped its head down and nudged it, watching the pebble roll away. It slithered forward and nudged it again, harder this time. As the pebble rolled further away, the child approached the pebble at an angle, knocking it with its tail. It squealed as the pebble went sailing across the aqueduct, and gave chase after it. Ophelia couldn't help but chuckle. It reminded her of a human child. Maybe that was what made it different? It wasn't made from men, it was borne of them. It looked like one of the Choir's experiments, but it was only a half-breed. Right? Perhaps this creature's blood ties to humanity could usher in a different cycle? 

Right?

Ophelia shook her head. This was getting her nowhere. Should she really pity something that caused such despair just be existing? She thought of Mergo. It had only been a baby, but its presence had brought untold calamity. If a stillborn child could cause that much harm, Lord knew what this living child could cause. 

Ophelia lengthened her axe, watching the child dive and roll, and chirp and burble as it played with the pebble. _Steady, breathe, just a quick strike, and it will never know. It's for its own good._ The child turned, jumped, and tumbled, rolling on its face. It froze, not moving for a moment. Then, it began to make strange, high pitched chuffing noises. Ophelia frowned. It looked over at Arianna, chuffing growing louder. It squirmed over to her, but as soon as it was halfway, Arianna screamed and splashed water at it. The child flinched and backed off, retreating to a corner, chuffing quieter, but still audible. 

It was crying. It had hurt itself playing, and it was crying and Arianna couldn't comfort it due to her shattered mind. Dropping her axe, Ophelia made her way over to the child. 

"Hey."

It whipped around, trying to shrink itself into the corner. Ophelia knelt down and stretched out her hand.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you."

It regarded her for a moment, then rushed forward. Ophelia tensed and cursed herself for dropping her axe. Before she could ready a counter attack, the child flung itself at her chest. Ophelia readied herself for the nasty bite it would bring. Instead, the child buried its "face" into her coat, and resumed crying. 

Pity cracked her heart. She couldn't do it. She couldn't kill this creature. Wrapping her arms around it, she stroked its cool, clammy skin, shushing and soothing it.

"There, there. It's alright. You just had a little fall, that's all."

Once it had quieted down, it curled up against her chest. The steady rise and fall of its flanks told Ophelia that it had fallen asleep. She stared down at the nightmare in her arms. It really was just like a human child. She looked over her shoulder at Arianna, who sat against the far well, shaking and mumbling to herself, then back to the child. It wouldn't be good for either of them to leave the child down here. Then again, Ophelia couldn't take it with her. Gehrman wouldn't want to house it in the dream either. Bringing it into the church above would only cause more chaos. What could she do?

_Well, I can at least get it away from Arianna for the time being. Give both of them some relief._

As she stood to leave, child cradled in her arms, Arianna watched, gibbering and pointing. For a moment, Ophelia considered leaving it with Arianna instead. Maybe somewhere in her lurked a motherly instinct to protect this non-conventional child. However, Arianna screeched and jabbed her finger at Ophelia, putting any such thoughts to rest. Sighing, the hunter climbed out of the aqueduct and placed the child down in the far corner of the tiny library amongst a stack of books. Shrugging off her coat, she draped it over top of the child, patting it. It snuggled up beneath her coat, squeaking in its sleep. Ophelia chuckled and looked about the library. Surely there was something on these children in one of these books? She started with the table, perusing titles to find the closest fit to her problem. Arranged in messy stacks were various tomes on dreams, beasts, Yharnam's history, along with a couple volumes on parasitology. Oddly enough, all those books talked about were snakes. Bizarre. She turned her attention to the shelves, and spent the next few hours pouring through books, trying to find something, anything about the slumbering terror in the room. Halfway through a compendium on the Great Ones, she came across a statement that brought her up short.

_Every Great One loses their child and longs for a surrogate._

Ophelia paused. Lost their child, and longed for surrogates? Were the Great Ones actively trying to have children? Is that why Mergo had been born? She glanced over to the far corner where Arianna's child still slept. If this book was right, that Arianna's baby would be considered a successful birth. But Oedon was formless and, from what Ophelia could tell, not about to descend any time soon to foot his end of the bill. Which, left humanity with a problem. After all, she'd killed Mergo and her Wet Nurse, so that caretaker was out of the picture. No way the Amygdala crouched over the cathedral would care for the child. She frowned. No way she could care for it. What did children like that even eat?

_Think Ophelia! There has to be_ _something!_

Wait, hadn't she seen creatures like the child in Upper Cathedral Ward? And weren't they all facing towards that being that dwelled below the church? Ophelia crooked a finger beneath her chin as she mulled it over. True, the being was large, mean, and hit like an enraged Church Giant, but maybe it would be inclined to look after the child? After all, there were three right outside its chamber, staring in. Maybe it too wanted surrogate children. Closing the book, Ophelia went over to check on the child. Its tail peeped out from under the hem of her coat, but other than that it slumbered on. Ophelia wondered what its first few moments of life had been like with Arianna. She hoped the woman hadn't hit the thing.

Readying her gear, Ophelia exited the library and went to clear out the upper ward.

* * * * *

The discordant whining of unseen violins never failed to unnerve Ophelia. She strode through the now deserted ward, stepping over bodies and dried smears of blood, the child trailing behind her. Twice she had to tell it to leave the corpses alone. As they made their way towards the lumen flower garden, the child became more excitable. It would slither ahead a few feet, then stop, staring off into the distance. Ophelia's heart pounded against her ribs. That monster would kill her the moment she stepped foot in its arena again. It had done so that past six times. She hoped that by presenting the child, she could get it to hold off its assault and show it she was there for other reasons. She really shouldn't have been so eager to hunt more monsters. Hindsight told her this new endeavor was going to be rather difficult if the beast below didn't feel like hearing her out. 

Once in the garden, Ophelia hoisted the child up through the broken window. There, they made their way to the lift that would take them beneath the church. The child bounced around, gurgling and squeaking at her. Ophelia smiled at it. She wished she could understand it. It was probably babbling about what it sensed in the way that children would recount an exciting adventure. Which, now that she thought about it, would have driven her mad if she was able to comprehend what it was saying, so it was probably for the best that all she heard were animalistic burbles. 

The lift shuddered to a halt, setting them neatly at the bottom. Swallowing her fear, Ophelia scooped the child up and prepared to enter the being's den. _Every Great One loses their child and yearns for a surrogate_. She contemplated that statement as she strode beneath the archway and into the monster's domain. Would this creature take it? The abandoned child of another Great One? Did his creature, a rejected Great One, yearn for a surrogate as her ascended companions did? She hoped. Otherwise, her latest death was going to be very painful.

Ophelia drew nearer to the creature. When she was about halfway across the watery expanse, it turned and flared its wings. Ophelia tensed, lamenting her unarmed state. If it saw what she carried, it paid no mind. It raised a tentacle. Ophelia waited for the opportunity to dodge beneath the swipe. Before either could move, the child let out a loud squeal. Both parties froze. The child squirmed and trashed. Ophelia lowered it to the ground. Like a bullet, it shot off towards the creature. The creature in turn, watched the child race up to it. It lowered its tentacle as the child stopped and bounced before it, wagging its tail and splashing water all over. Ophelia readied her axe, the being glanced over at her. Ophelia nodded her head back down towards the child, then brought up her axe, indicating that she was willing to protect the child should the fallen Great One harbor any ill intent. The being jerked back, as if appalled Ophelia would suggest such a thing. Ophelia relaxed, but only slightly. The being turned its attention back to the child. It squeaked and babbled. The creature responded back, phlegmy growls reverberated throughout the chamber. Their conversation continued for a short while. Ophelia watched, wondering what they were talking about. 

Eventually, the pair grew silent. The child squirmed closer to the being, who scooped it up in its tentacle, and pressed the child close to its head, nuzzling the cosmic tot. It soon set the child back down and turned its attention back to Ophelia. The hunter stood her ground as the being made its way over to her. It stopped right in front of her, leaving Ophelia eye to trunk with the creature. Backing up a bit, it lowered its head and rumbled at her. She felt something thick and cool slide over her head. The message was clear. The being was thankful, and would not attack. Ophelia nodded and turned to leave.

Right before the exit, a sharp cry made her whip around. The child was following her. Ophelia knelt down, patting it on the head.

"You have to stay here, little one. You'll be better off here."

The child chittered and nuzzled her hand. Ophelia leaned forward and gave it a hug. 

"I know. But you'll be safe." She pointed at the being watching them. "You'll know a mother who loves you."

The child looked back at its new guardian. It turned back to Ophelia and gave a questioning chirp.

Ophelia nodded. "I promise." 

The child slithered away and back to its kin. Ophelia rose and exited the chamber, riding the lift up church. The fallen Great One had been given the surrogate it longed for. The herald of a new hunting cycle was protected. Would it bring forth a better world?

She could only hope.

**Author's Note:**

> So, a couple things here. I have the hunter refer to Ebrietas not by name, and by it instead of she, because while players know Ebrietas's name and that she's female, I doubt the hunter does. .


End file.
